Adolfo Kaminsky, born in Buenos Aires in 1925, had learned the chemistry of dyes from a dry cleaner; that laboratory knowledge made him a forger of identity papers. Three hundred children escaped deportation thanks to nine hundred forged documents made in three days. He did not sleep: one hour of sleep, he calculated, was worth thirty lives. He died in 2023.
The story
Born in Buenos Aires on 1 October 1925 to Russian Jewish parents, in Paris by 1932 and at Vire by 1938, Adolfo Kaminsky learned the chemistry of dyes in a dyer's shop. That trade was what made him a forger.
Under the name Julien Keller he became “the forger of Paris”. One figure sums up the work: nine hundred documents in three days to save three hundred children marked for deportation. He did not sleep; he reckoned that one hour of sleep cost thirty lives.
After the war he joined the French secret service, then resigned rather than work for the war in Indochina. He helped Jewish emigration to Palestine, then joined the Jeanson network and Henri Curiel in support of the Algerian FLN, the movement fighting for independence — in 1962 he made a cubic metre of forged hundred-franc notes.
He went on for the liberation movements of Africa and South America, for dissidents in Portugal, Spain and Greece, for American deserters from Vietnam, for Cohn-Bendit in 1968. His last forged paper dates from 1971.
He made his living from photography: prints for Trauner and Carné from 1950, street photographs of Paris, shown at the Museum of Jewish Art and History in 2019. He died in Paris on 9 January 2023, aged ninety-seven, and rests in Division 53.
The grave
A slab surmounted by a marble bust. The inscription gives the trade first, then the commitment in three words separated by dashes: “Adolfo KAMINSKY, photographe, Résistant – Humaniste – Anticolonialiste, 1925-2023”. Nothing of the forger, nothing of Julien Keller, nothing of the nine hundred documents in three days — the three words are enough, and that is the order in which he introduced himself.
On site, do not miss
The inscription puts the profession before the rest — “photographe” — then three words separated by dashes: “Résistant – Humaniste – Anticolonialiste”. That is the order in which he introduced himself.
Visitors' questions
Where is Adolfo Kaminsky's grave?
In Division 53, chemin du Bastion, first row, beneath a slab topped by a marble bust. The inscription lists three words — “Résistant – Humaniste – Anticolonialiste”, Resistance fighter, humanist, anti-colonialist — preceded by his trade: photographer.
Alfred AssolantWhat did Adolfo Kaminsky do during the Occupation?
Forged papers, under the name Julien Keller. The figure he quoted himself: nine hundred documents in three days to save three hundred children. He worked out that one hour of sleep cost thirty lives — so he did not sleep.
Daniel CordierDid he carry on after the war?
Until 1971. He worked for Jewish emigration to Palestine, for Algeria's FLN independence movement alongside the Jeanson network and Henri Curiel, for dissidents from Portugal, Spain and Greece, and for American deserters from Vietnam.
Henri CurielWas Adolfo Kaminsky a photographer?
Yes, and it was his declared profession: prints for Alexandre Trauner and Marcel Carné from 1950, then street photography in Paris, exhibited at the Museum of Jewish Art and History in 2019. The chemistry served both trades.
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